MILAN — The European Court of Human Rights has agreed to hear Amanda Knox’s case challenging her slander conviction during the trial for her British roommate’s 2007 murder, her Italian defense lawyer said Friday.
Carlo Dalla Vedova said the Strasbourg court’s decision this week is “good news” for his client, because the vast majority of cases are rejected at the preliminary stage. The Italian government has until September to provide its response.
Knox’s team is arguing that the slander charge violated her human rights because it was based on statements she made under duress during overnight questioning without being informed she was a suspect and without a defense lawyer or translator present.
Italy’s highest court last year overturned the murder conviction in the brutal murder and sexual assault of British student Meredith Kercher against Knox and her former boyfriend. However, it upheld Knox’s slander conviction for wrongly accusing Congolese-born bar owner Diya “Patrick” Lumumba in the murder. It reduced the slander sentence to three years.